Things That Make Me Smile 4

summer cookouts with my family.

I know I haven't been the best at making this post happen every week, but I'm determined to keep trying. Gerald took Lil' girl to run some errands with him and Lil' man is sleeping. So I've got the place to myself and all is quiet. This means the conditions are perfect for me to write an entry. It's kinda weird and kinda nice all at the same time. I almost chose mopping the floor over blogging, but blogging finally won. It's a good thing to, because it has been forever!  Here are the things that have been making me smile lately:

The amazing food I've been enjoying at all of our summer cookouts. We are very spoiled by my brother, Alex. He is an amazing cook. So far this summer we've had grilled hamburgers with homemade fries, onion rings, and homemade ice cream. Four different kinds of grilled pizza served with homemade ice cream. A hardwood smoked leg of lamb served with macaroni and cheese, fresh green beans, delicious rolls, and peanut butter pie. I'm really bad at remembering to take pictures of it all, but every single meal has been melt in your mouth good. He needs to start a restaurant already.

Lil' girl getting stuck in the jumperoo. She was very distressed about it all, but she managed to smile for this picture. Hopefully, she learned her lesson and won't be trying this again. It was quite funny though.

Mowing the lawn with this self propelled lawn mower. I've actually really enjoyed doing it. The mower is very quiet, so I can mow the lawn while the kids are outside with me. Plus, it's a good workout. It does take about 3 hours from start to finish, but I always have such a great sense of accomplishment when I'm done. Don't worry, Lil' girl didn't actually push the mower. This was all for picture purposes.

Getting farm fresh eggs every week from a sweet lady. Best eggs ever!

Coming into Lil' girls room to check on her before going to bed and freaking out after seeing her empty bed...

 ...Finding Lil' girl fast asleep under the bed with our dog, Emma.

 Having cool lighting to take a picture of Lil' man while staying in the mountains.

Going on a walk with lil' girl in the mountains.

 Capturing a picture of Lil' girl jumping in mid-air.

Getting some good pictures of me and my baby in the mountains...

...and capturing some sweet pictures of Lil' man and his daddy 

Finding this work of art by Lil' girl that she made using the blocks her daddy made her for Christmas.

Having fun making these terrariums and the little figurines that go inside them with my sister, Lindsey.


There are so many other things that have happened that I haven't managed to get pictures of that make me smile as well:

-Enjoying the first couple weeks of summer break with Gerald and the kids.
-My parents and three younger siblings moving back from Georgia.
-Getting my hair highlighted and cut by my talented sister in law, Brittney
-Having friends from Pennsylvania over, going to Ikea with them, and staying up late into the night playing Settlers and Scrabble together.
-Celebrating 6 years of marriage with my best friend, Gerald =)
-Getting lots of small projects around the house done.
-Going thrift store shopping
-Selling stuff on my Etsy shop!


Since I haven't blogged in so long, this post kinda served as a catch up post as well as a  "Things That Make Me Smile" post. Gotta run now. Lil' man is up, Gerald is back, and we have big plans to clean the garage out today. So fun ;-)